Who cares about senior citizens?

March 22, 2014

President Barack Obama does not have to worry about votes from senior citizens this fall. But many members of Congress do - and that may be why they kept him from another massive raid of Medicare benefits.

Obama had planned to limit access to three classes of drugs on which many Medicare recipients rely. They included antidepressants, antipsychotics and drugs meant to help people with organ transplants.

The move would have saved Medicare $729 million by 2019.

But, after hearing from some in the health care community, many members of Congress said they objected to the plan. Subsequently, the White House quietly shelved it.

Nothing has been done about tens of billions of dollars in Medicare cuts linked to the Affordable Care Act, however.

And to think: Obama and fellow liberals once accused Republicans of not caring about senior citizens' health.